LANSING – Legislation implementing the Great Lakes compact – to give the world’s largest freshwater watershed greater protection from possible diversions as well as provide new rules governing water bottling operations and internal diversions – passed the Michigan Senate and House unanimously on Wednesday. However, the Legislature did not act on some of the more contentious parts of the package.

Passage of the package (SB 212 , SB 723 , SB 727 , SB 858 , SB 859 in the Senate and HB 4343 , HB 5067 and HB 5072 in the House) marks action on the most significant environmental package this session.

However, SB 860 , which would adopt a controversial tool for assessing water withdrawals, remains on the Senate floor. And the House did not vote on its own HB 5065 , HB 5066 , HB 5068 , HB 5069 , HB 5070 , HB 5071 and HB 5073 . Those House bills include measures to require permits for large water withdrawals and deal with the water assessment tool, impact studies and local regulations.

Sen. Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck), chair of the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee and one of the chief actors in putting the package together, said if enacted the compact will help the state’s tourism and agriculture economies as well as provide protection against potential water withdrawals.

If the compact, drawn up by the governors of the Great Lake States as well as the premiers of the Canadian provinces along the watershed, is not enacted then Congress will take action governing the Great Lakes, Birkholz said, which would likely favor the thirstier areas of the country.

And Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), chair of the Great Lakes and Environment Committee and another key architect of the package, said it was an important signal for lawmakers to vote on where there were areas of agreement in order to move toward a comprehensive package before summer break.

The moves were praised by environmental groups. The National Wildlife Foundation said the package helps put the lakes a major step closer to protection.

While the legislation dealing with the assessment tool did not pass, officials said efforts continue to win an agreement on the proposal.

Warren said there meetings later in the day on the outstanding areas of disagreement, which includes the threshold for state oversight of large water withdrawals, how to protect coldwater streams and tourism in those areas and how to ensure current users are protected and services are maintained.

“We’re getting closer everyday,” she said. “The time to find an agreement is now.”

While all of the bills received unanimous support in the Senate, the compact was the only unanimous vote in the House. Rep. Fulton Sheen (R-Plainwell), who was joined with less than 10 other members in opposing the other House bills, said he doesn’t think the bills give any more control over the state’s resources than the state already has and that they are adding regulations to businesses and making it harder for them to operate.

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